Last year I created an MSBuild Project Template that lets you work with Source Control (e.g. Team Foundation Server) and decent syntax highlighting by default when using MSBuild proj files. It was fairly well received and I finally got time today to implement a couple of the suggestions that have come up in the intervening 8 months.
I've uploaded the resulting template to http://www.codeplex.com/MSBuildTemplate
The major changes are as follows:
- The source code to a HelloWorld custom task is now included instead of the pre-built task.
- I've changed the debugging parameters so that you can step through custom tasks by putting breakpoints in.
- The template dynamically generates the reference to the task binary based on the ProjectName specified.
Usage is just as before, first of all download the project template from here http://www.codeplex.com/MSBuildTemplate, then drop the entire zip file into your Documents\Visual Studio 200x\Templates\ProjectTemplates folder (don't expand it!!!). Restart Visual Studio and create a new project. You should see the "MSBuild Project" template appear under My Templates.
Once you have created a new Project (and Solution if necessary), your solution will be structured like this:
Pressing F5 will compile the Custom Task and start the MSBuild.exe (v2.0) with the Build.proj as its parameter. The custom task can be debugged directly from the IDE. Set a breakpoint within the task and start debugging to see what I mean.
As before, please leave comments for improvements on this site or on the Codeplex site.